Last Chance for Mother Earth?
What was I doing in 1971? Well, I was a 14 year-old at school, worrying about our planet, particularly the pollution in our atmosphere. We were asked to choose a topic for a project - I chose pollution - I found the project book in the loft the other week. It had a contents page which included; air, water and land pollution as well as the pollution of humans and animals. To my astonishment, I had cut out an article - condensed from Time magazine in 1970 - you don't need me to tell you - but it was 49 YEARS AGO! That's scary. The title of which was 'Last Chance for Mother Earth?. It had the sub-heading of - 'Scientists today are spreading an urgent message: the price of pollution could be the death of man'. The Clean Air Act in the UK became law in the year I was born in response to the London smog of 1952. We now have the Clean Air Strategy ! No-one can have missed the current interest and the science - thank goodness - of the urgent need for action before it is too late. I have been thinking lately, how could I, and many others of my generation, have forgotten this message in the intervening years?
I have a 91 year-old mother, who was a child in the war. I thought it would be interesting to ask her what her memories were about energy and if we could learn anything. I say this because she has often said to me (and I heard myself repeating it to my children!) - 'turn the lights off', 'you don't need the heating on in every room', 'switch that off', 'do you really need that?'. Clearly coal played a big part in their lives, as no-one had central heating (I remember my dad putting it in our house) . She remembers 'Friday night in a tin bath in front of the coal fire', the delivery of coal and the chimney sweep. Newspaper was used instead of toilet roll (recycling!) and they had a 'potty' under the bed (as the toilet was outside). Obviously this wasn't to save water! My parents didn't have a car for quite some time, my mum either walked, rode a bike to most places or went by public transport. The groceries were delivered to her house in a box on a bike - which my - now husband - rode, as his dad was the local grocer. The family grew vegetables and fruit on allotments and my grandad (from Sweden) grew and sold produce. More about food in the next blog.
So, the good news is that households in the UK are not reliant on coal anymore (Friends of the Earth), as 'Coal is the single largest contributor to global warming' and we are doing well in the UK on this front. However, the first new coal mine in 30 years has just been given the go-ahead. Pollution from coal is linked to four of the five leading causes of death in the United States: heart disease, cancer, stroke, and respiratory diseases. Every year, 36,000 Americans die as a result of air pollution from coal-fired power plants. Nearly one in ten children in the United States has asthma' Greenpeace'. In the UK, particularly in cities, pollution from transport is a major problem. According to Mike Berners-Lee (2019), 57% of travel is by road. If you want to read more about the polluting effects of and potential solutions to 'Travel and Transport', I would highly recommend the chapter in his book 'There is no Planet B. A Handbook for the Make or Break Years'. The Defra site has a useful link to A Guide to UK Air Pollution Information Resources'. We are still a long way off but some serious progress is being made.
So, in many households, mine too, sometimes oil, then gas, replaced coal. My mum's generation generally heated only one room in the house - usually with a coal fire - hence why she comments on us heating the whole house. Do we need to? Also, my parents were not well-off, so 'every penny counted' and electricity was, and should still be seen as something we do not use unnecessarily as most of our electricity comes from burning fossil fuels, gas in particular. This requires a change of mind-set and action. In the book mentioned above by Mike Berners-Lee, at the end of each chapter he has a summary of 'What can I do?'. I have tried to summarise his summary (p.97) for you!
- Vote for politicians who understand and prioritise these issues.
- Spend your money, where possible, supporting 'energy efficient supply chains, low carbon technologies and infrastructure' e.g. insulate, fit solar panels.
- Try to enjoy activities and hobbies that don't use too much energy.
- Decrease energy consumption e.g. in the home, transport and travel and in things we buy.
- Challenge habits and views that are unhelpful - but be nice about it!
- Don't beat yourself up - do what you can.
Here are some other great energy-saving tips for reducing gas and electricity usage.
I hope you have enjoyed reading my blog. I am interested to receive your comments and hear what you are doing.
Best Wishes
Plogart Pat